Five Great Reasons To Choose Email Marketing

Five Great Reasons To Choose Email Marketing - Dianne Fergusson (Email Appenders)

Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses of all types and sizes. No matter how you define success, you can achieve outstanding results with email marketing while investing only a small amount of time and an even smaller amount of money.

So, Why Email Marketing?

1. It’s Inexpensive: Email marketing is an affordable way to stretch a tight marketing budget - and whose aren’t these days? Unlike direct mail, there is virtually no production, materials or postage expense. Email marketing is 20 times more cost effective than direct mail, and can cost as little as fractions of a penny per email.

2. It’s Effective: Email marketing enables you to proactively communicate with your existing customers and prospects instead of passively waiting for them to return to your Web site or storefront. It is a highly effective way to increase sales, drive site or store traffic and develop loyalty.
i. Increasing sales
ii. Driving traffic
iii. Building Loyalty

3. It’s Immediate: Email marketing generates an immediate response. The call to action is clear: “Click here to take advantage of this offer”, or “to learn more about this service”. Initial campaign response generally occurs within 48 hours of the time the email campaign is sent.

4. It’s Targeted: You can easily segment your lists using a variety of criteria or interest groups so that your promotions go to the individuals most likely to respond to your offer.

5. It’s Easy: There is Web-based email marketing products for small and medium businesses. Most include professional HTML templates, list segmentation and targeting capabilities, as well as, automatic tracking and reporting. So, you are free to concentrate on your unique message.

It is time to put email marketing to work for your business!!!

Hmmm....just a few bits of feeback - when I followed the link I had a high level of resistance to filling in my details - first of all - silverpop wasn't a name I had any knowledge of prior to your post, and then the page I landed on didn't have any 'credentials' for the company. Then the form was geared towards Americans - not that I am against this per se, it's just that my expectations weren't set to expect that. Lastly the form is reminiscent of many that I've seen in the form of spam - ie 'give us your email address and you can win an ipod' - except what actually happens is you get subscribed to a spam list marked 'gullible'.
I must admit my little web scam alarm bells started ringing - why would I give my email address to an unknown *marketing* company based in the US, especially when there are no reassurances on the form ("we do not sell your address")?

Having said that, I then went to the home page and mosied around.
And I weighed up that generally I do trust people posting on this site -  and I did sign up. But I gave my non-important 'circulars' email address.

As you are providing info on 'the new rules' for email marketing I thought this feedback on my behaviour might be interesting. Because avoiding people's wariness when asking them to subscribe to your list would be high on my list of 'new rules'.
I look forward to reading the white paper though - and seeing if I get spam!!

That's great and very informative. But my feedback was more about the style of the sign-up form and the lack of information around it. I did find out more by going to the homepage - but again - there was no link to do so, I had to edit the URL. Which sounds trivial, but on a more busy day I would have just thought 'forget it' and left, never to return. And again - your credentials are good - but this forum (and others) have started to get posts from 'bogus' companies and it would be a very trusting person (or naiive) that just signed a private email address up to every company without checking what that company will do with their details. I have now 'double opted in' with silverpop but have not been offered any privacy policy or reassurance on what happens to the address. I'm not having a go - indeed these things are not unusual, unfortunatley, but I thought you would appreciate a walk though on what potential barriers to conversion exist from a customer perspective.

On 10:25:05 25 April 2006 JulieJoseph wrote:

 

Since you haven't heard of us, here is an overview of our 'credentials'

Your partner for email marketing success

Silverpop provides state-of-the-art, permission-based email marketing solutions, strategies and services for brand-sensitive companies worldwide. In 2005, for the second year running, JupiterResearch ranked Silverpop as having the highest overall business value and richest feature set among email service providers. Forrester Research called Silverpop "a strong performer” that “stands out with an interface that is quite easy to use while providing strong functionality.” In a marketplace crowded with look-alike service providers, Silverpop offers sophisticated and powerful solutions tailored to each client's unique needs. Silverpop provides email marketing to top companies including British Sky Broadcasting, Volvo, Opodo and more.

Why Silverpop?
Customers come to Silverpop because they want more than simple batch-and-blast email marketing. They want a company that they can truly partner with for email marketing success. They want a company that will guide them through the ever-shifting complexities of this evolving medium and help them tap into email's unrivalled potential for cultivating customer relationships while achieving high ROI.

What We Offer

Technology – Our unique, enterprise-class email solution allows companies and agencies to deliver high-volume, dynamic, personalised and highly scalable email communications, and to translate massive volumes of raw data into simple, relevant and actionable information.

Analysis – Our reporting and industry-first analytics tools go far beyond basic tracking – providing you with usable results in real-time to help refine and improve your company’s email marketing efforts.

Integration – Our standard offering is loaded with a wide range of configurable features that make it an easy-to-use and powerful stand-alone product. But for those who need custom data integration, our powerful technology easily integrates with other enterprise applications.

Expertise – Email marketing is our specialty. We can help you evaluate your current email program and create and execute a comprehensive strategy going forward. We understand the power of email, and recognise its unique risks. We help you to identify and eliminate those risks.

Deliverability – Our suite of deliverability features gives you maximum visibility into your deliverability with minimum effort. At every step along the way, from assembling your message through analysing your results, Silverpop works seamlessly in the background to ensure your emails are successfully delivered.

Execution – Analyst firms agree that Silverpop has one of the richest and easy-to-use ASP interfaces in the industry. But we recognise that not every company has the time, resources or desire to execute its own mailings. Whether you are looking for a special, one-time service, or want Silverpop to handle all your campaign details, we can help.

Extended Capabilities – Silverpop offers a range of fully-integrated extended capabilities for specialised applications and needs, including forward-to-a-friend, surveys and automated deployment of messages, such as receipts, alerts and notifications, in response to customer actions.

Completely Customisable

No two companies are alike, and unique needs call for unique solutions. Our services are completely customisable. Whether you prefer full-service, a do-it-yourself approach, or something in-between, we provide just the right level of service, as you need it. Our offerings are designed to allow you to mix and match, and move seamlessly between whichever services best suit your needs. 

UK clients include:

• BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING
• OPODO
• THOMAS COOK
• HALIFAX
• FED EX (EMEA)
• TIME OUT
• AUDIBLE
• CARPHONE WAREHOUSE
• SCHUH 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR  PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, PLEASE
CONTACT US AT:   +44 (20) 7288 6190,
WWW.SILVERPOP.COM/UK

I have had similar experiences (being contacted BDM after signing up to email lists) , and while I don't like it, sometimes it has been useful. My feeling is that as much choice should be given to the customer as possible.

If I am asked at sign up 'We like to contact customers by phone, to offer appropriate services - if you would prefer not to be contacted please click here' - in a clear way (no double negatives, no pre-populated opt ins, no mixture of 'click to opt in' & click to opt out' in the same section) - if I am *asked* then the I am far more likely to be open minded and think 'sure why not'.

If I have never been asked and get contacted the BDM already has a hurdle to get over - my 'grrrr' factor of thinking 'I didn't sign up for this'. The best ones I have come across ask when is a good time to be contacted and stick to the time specified.

The worst ones badger you and effectively rule out the chance of you *ever* wanting to work with that company!!

On 12:08:06 25 April 2006 DavidWilliams wrote:

 

hi there, 

I have one other query - I have just signed up to receive the white paper, and would tend to agree to an extent with the other reply with the lack of information as to what will be done with the email address and details (though I know very well about the strong credentials of Silverpop), certainly at least on the subscription page itself.

Occasionally I have signed up for industry or company specific newsletters, only to find that I am called by a Business Development Manager a few weeks later to enquiry what supplier I am using in that particular area and would I like to consider their option. Often, there is no mention that when I am registering for a newsletter or a white paper that I am going to be contacted by BDM.

As I have seen from this particular sign up and the confirmation emails I have seen Silverpop has a sensible opt in process, but what are your thoughts on what I might consider irregular B2B practices in order to drum up new business?

Something I might bring up in the Email Marketing Round Table tomorrow

Best

David

On 11:00:00 25 April 2006 becva wrote:

 

That's great and very informative. But my feedback was more about the style of the sign-up form and the lack of information around it. I did find out more by going to the homepage - but again - there was no link to do so, I had to edit the URL. Which sounds trivial, but on a more busy day I would have just thought 'forget it' and left, never to return. And again - your credentials are good - but this forum (and others) have started to get posts from 'bogus' companies and it would be a very trusting person (or naiive) that just signed a private email address up to every company without checking what that company will do with their details. I have now 'double opted in' with silverpop but have not been offered any privacy policy or reassurance on what happens to the address. I'm not having a go - indeed these things are not unusual, unfortunatley, but I thought you would appreciate a walk though on what potential barriers to conversion exist from a customer perspective.

On 10:25:05 25 April 2006 JulieJoseph wrote:

 

Since you haven't heard of us, here is an overview of our 'credentials'

Your partner for email marketing success

Silverpop provides state-of-the-art, permission-based email marketing solutions, strategies and services for brand-sensitive companies worldwide. In 2005, for the second year running, JupiterResearch ranked Silverpop as having the highest overall business value and richest feature set among email service providers. Forrester Research called Silverpop "a strong performer” that “stands out with an interface that is quite easy to use while providing strong functionality.” In a marketplace crowded with look-alike service providers, Silverpop offers sophisticated and powerful solutions tailored to each client's unique needs. Silverpop provides email marketing to top companies including British Sky Broadcasting, Volvo, Opodo and more.

Why Silverpop?
Customers come to Silverpop because they want more than simple batch-and-blast email marketing. They want a company that they can truly partner with for email marketing success. They want a company that will guide them through the ever-shifting complexities of this evolving medium and help them tap into email's unrivalled potential for cultivating customer relationships while achieving high ROI.

What We Offer

Technology – Our unique, enterprise-class email solution allows companies and agencies to deliver high-volume, dynamic, personalised and highly scalable email communications, and to translate massive volumes of raw data into simple, relevant and actionable information.

Analysis – Our reporting and industry-first analytics tools go far beyond basic tracking – providing you with usable results in real-time to help refine and improve your company’s email marketing efforts.

Integration – Our standard offering is loaded with a wide range of configurable features that make it an easy-to-use and powerful stand-alone product. But for those who need custom data integration, our powerful technology easily integrates with other enterprise applications.

Expertise – Email marketing is our specialty. We can help you evaluate your current email program and create and execute a comprehensive strategy going forward. We understand the power of email, and recognise its unique risks. We help you to identify and eliminate those risks.

Deliverability – Our suite of deliverability features gives you maximum visibility into your deliverability with minimum effort. At every step along the way, from assembling your message through analysing your results, Silverpop works seamlessly in the background to ensure your emails are successfully delivered.

Execution – Analyst firms agree that Silverpop has one of the richest and easy-to-use ASP interfaces in the industry. But we recognise that not every company has the time, resources or desire to execute its own mailings. Whether you are looking for a special, one-time service, or want Silverpop to handle all your campaign details, we can help.

Extended Capabilities – Silverpop offers a range of fully-integrated extended capabilities for specialised applications and needs, including forward-to-a-friend, surveys and automated deployment of messages, such as receipts, alerts and notifications, in response to customer actions.

Completely Customisable

No two companies are alike, and unique needs call for unique solutions. Our services are completely customisable. Whether you prefer full-service, a do-it-yourself approach, or something in-between, we provide just the right level of service, as you need it. Our offerings are designed to allow you to mix and match, and move seamlessly between whichever services best suit your needs. 

UK clients include:

• BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING
• OPODO
• THOMAS COOK
• HALIFAX
• FED EX (EMEA)
• TIME OUT
• AUDIBLE
• CARPHONE WAREHOUSE
• SCHUH 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON OUR  PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, PLEASE
CONTACT US AT:   +44 (20) 7288 6190,
WWW.SILVERPOP.COM/UK